Dylan Shaffer - Page 2

Figures dancing gracefully, costumes sparkling magnificently, and revolution brewing eminently - all this and more compose the first scene of the beloved musical Anastasia, the story of the Russian princes title character journeying to her past to remember who she was, and in the process, discovering who she is.

The funniest play of the 21stcentury launches its National Tour in Pittsburgh this week. The Play That Goes Wrong is right as rain and will leave you crying with laughter and delight.

Let's talk about sex.

A family of riches and elegance surrounded by the decrepit conditions of a deteriorating estate: the paradox is suitable for the equally paradoxical name of the property, Grey Gardens.

Beat the drums because Thoroughly Modern Millie is a hit! As the nightcap to Pittsburgh CLO's 2018 summer season, Millieis nothing short of a flapper girl's dream and a theatergoer's desire.

Before there was Magic Mike, there was The Full Monty. Based off the 1997 British film of the same name, The Full Monty debuted as a Broadway musical in 2000 and revealed just how far and how bare six unemployed men were willing to go to earn money again.

The rhythm is gonna get you when you attend the first musical of the CLO's 72nd season. On Your Feet!, the real-life story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, is crammed with dozens of Latin-infused hits spanning more than three decades. The biomusical is hip, glitzy, extravagant, and theatrical, all the while maintaining a consistent storyline that offers welcomed depth and insight to the show.

A struggling writer is all too common a motif in literature - think Midnight in Paris, Sunset Boulevard, orSomething Rotten!. For Gordon Michael Schwinn, writing hit songs for a children's television show will be his legacy if he doesn't make a change, before it's too late…before he needs A New Brain.

Missed your invitation to Harry and Megan's royal wedding? Fear naught, because as part of PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh, the story of Cinderella is as enchanting and regal as any British love story.

A true comedy of errors filled with couples engaged and enraged in wedding jitters, Perfect Wedding at the CLO Cabaret is the madcap comedy of the summer that will make you think twice about saying, "I do."

Surprising to an outsider, Pittsburgh's cultural scene is impressive for a city its size. Ranging from music to murals and everything in between, the Steel City has much to offer visitors and neighbors within its localized cultural mecca. Included in that mix is the Pittsburgh CLO, an organization that has been fostering musical theater in Pittsburgh since 1946.

To see a show, you must rent a seat. You become the temporary tenant occupying the vacant seat for a specified time. When the show is through, the lease is up. Unfortunately, Mark and Roger could never afford to see a show, let alone afford to pay last year's rent.

Sugar. Butter. Flour. Welcome to the kitchen where Jenna (Desi Oakle) is baking up a fresh pie. She works tirelessly every day baking new pies and serving at Joe's Diner, only to have her abusive husband Earl (Nick Bailey) take her sweet earnings at the end of every shift. This all changes when Jenna discovers she is pregnant with Earl's baby.

Explosive and suspenseful, The Bodyguard, the musical, offers a modern take on the 1992 silver screen classic starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The stage version, touring across America but stopping in Pittsburgh this week, stars Canadian R&B artist Deborah Cox and features thrilling theatrics that accompany the melodrama.

There's a land that you've heard of, once in a lullaby. It's a land of witches and wizards, talking animals and munchkins, and sorcery and dreams. Wicked transports audiences to the Land of Oz where the untold story of its witches unfold on stage in the most elaborate of fashions. The show is in Pittsburgh for a three-week stop and offered an incredible autism-friendly performance as well (more on that a little later).

Ten years after the epic conclusion of The Phantom of the Opera, we find ourselves on the shores of the Atlantic- an ocean away from the Paris Opera House where years prior Christine, Raoul, and the Phantom would meet for an explosive encounter in the lair. Christine and Raoul would flee together, leaving the Phantom to the mercy of the encroaching mob. It is the most recognizable love triangle in musical theatre- one that ends in the questionable disappearance of the Phantom. But Andrew Lloyd Weber could not let the Phantom's love and story end there; thus gives us the basis for the sequel Love Never Dies.

Celie never knew much about a good life. Her sparse moments of joy were shared with her sister Nettie. As a teenager, her father impregnated her - twice - and gave the baby away each time. Celie became a part of a package deal with a cow and was forced into an abusive marriage. Through all this, supported by feminism and a mysterious God, Celie is able to persevere and continue on her unsuspecting quest to produce the colors of the rainbow in The Color Purple.

Take a trip back to the 80s, where Australian accents abounded in California and Greek muses littered the earth; where short shorts and cross dressing was the norm; and where Sonny Malone is inspired to create the greatest roller disco since antiquity.

Washed up and slowly approaching middle age, rocker Dewey Finn (Rob Colletti) is living on his best friend's couch, stuck in his glory days in a college band. He finds himself strapped for cash and soon devises a plan to win the Battle of the Bands, enlisting, of course, the famous School of Rock band, which is comprised of prep school children rocking gnarly licks on the guitar, riffing vocal solos, and pounding drum beats.

The Allegheny River is not well known for its bountiful aquatic yielding, but travel just a little bit further north to the New Hazlett Theatre in Pittsburgh's North Side for a once-in-a-lifetime catch. Front Porch Theatrical's imagining of Big Fish synthesizes the best of Pittsburgh theatre into a musical that abounds with whimsical fantasies and heart-wrenching moments.